People rally in several cities against price hike.

SWAT -- People from various walks of life and political activists held rallies in Swat, Charsadda, Lower Dir and Battagram on Friday to demand the government to ensure easy availability of wheat flour and other essential food commodities besides controlling their prices.

In Swat, hundreds of residents from different areas gathered at Nishat Chowk, Mingora, after Friday prayers and chanted slogans against both the federal and provincial governments for the unchecked hike in prices of daily use commodities.

The protest rally, led by Dr Khalid Mahmood, was organised by Swat Public Movement.

The protesters said that the government had snatched two-time meal from the poor by increasing the prices of flour and other food items. Khan Sherin, a daily wage worker participating in the protest, said that like most of other labourers he could not find work for many days due to rain and bad weather.

The protesters criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in the province and said it had failed to provide flour to the residents of Swat at subsidised price.

Ask govt to ensure availability of flour, other commodities

In Charsadda, workers of Awami National Party staged a protest rally against the flour crisis and inflation.

The protesters, led by party's district president MPA Shakeel Bashir Umarzai, also blocked the road to traffic at Farooq-i-Azam Chowk to record their protest.

Mr Umarzai and other speakers claimed on the occasion that there was enough wheat stock in the warehouses, but the government was not releasing it to the flour mills.

In Lower Dir, scores of Jamaat-i-Islami workers on Friday held a protest rally in Munda against price hike and flour shortage. The JI youth wing organised the event. The participants came on the road and chanted slogans against the government.

JI tehsil chief Humayun Khan, youth wing general secretary Ikramuddin Mashwani and others blamed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the federal government for the record price...